San Diego, CA – San Diego, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Aramis Ramirez went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI as the Milwaukee Brewers crushed the San Diego Padres, 10-1, in the opener of a three-game series.
Gerardo Parra also drove in three runs, while Ryan Braun and Carlos Gomez had three hits apiece, with the former adding a solo homer in the Brewers' 16-hit attack.
Milwaukee maintained its 1 1/2-game lead on St. Louis atop the NL Central.
Kyle Lohse (12-7) had a successful return, allowing just one run on four hits and four walks over six innings in his first outing since suffering an ankle sprain on Aug. 13.
"He looked like he settled down and got everything working," said Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke about Lohse. "I was happy to see him get back in that rhythm again."
San Diego got its 10-game homestand off on the wrong foot as Eric Stults (6-14) was tagged for four runs on nine hits and three walks in five frames.
"Not quite as sharp as we've seen him," said San Diego manager Bud Black about Stults. "They made him pay for his mistakes, balls that he left over the plate they got good swings on them."
The only run the Padres pushed across came in the second inning via Alexi Amarista's RBI triple down the left-field line. Amarista was thrown out at home by Lohse on Stults' bunt up the first-base line, and Will Venable struck out to leave the bases loaded and keep it a 1-1 game.
Braun hit a go-ahead solo homer in the third, and Martin Maldonado added a run-scoring single later in the frame.
Ramirez, who singled in Gomez in the first inning, led off the fifth with a blast over the center-field wall, and Milwaukee tacked on six more runs against San Diego's bullpen.
Ramirez and Khris Davis recorded back-to-back RBI doubles in the sixth, and the Ramirez scored on a Rickie Weeks sacrifice fly.
Parra, who entered the game as a replacement for Braun, hit into a run-scoring groundout in the seventh and provided a two-run single in the ninth to account for the final score.
Game Notes
Milwaukee has won five straight on the road ... The Padres were 6-0 at home in August ... The Brewers began a nine-game road trip ... Braun collided knees with Jake Goebbert on a play at first base in the opening frame. Both stayed in the game before eventually exiting early.
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